Pack dispensing carton



1966 E. F. ROBB, JR

PACK DISPENSING CARTON Filed Aug. 23, 1965 INVENTOR.

EDWIN F. ROBB,

ATTORNEYS United States. Patent 7 3,286,830 PACK DISPENSING CARTON EdwinF. Robb, Jr., Deephaven, Minn. (159 Baker Bldg., Minneapolis, Minn.)Filed Aug. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 481,577 9 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) Thisinvention relates to an article storing and dispensing container andmore particularly to a carton for holding and dispensing a number ofindividual packs, packages or the like such as cigarette packs, gumpacks, candy bars and similar articles.

It is the object of the invention to provide an improved carton forstoring a plurality of packs with an integral closure member readilymovable to an open position to provide access into the carton enablingconvenient removal of the packs confined in the carton and movable to aclosed protected position to confine the remaining packs to the carton.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carton with a flexibleclosure member capable of being repeat edly opened and closed to permitseparate withdrawal of packs enclosed in the carton and to retain theenclosed packs in the carton.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carton having aflexible closure member from a single sheet of material which inassembly is folded and sealed so as'to be strong and durable.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a carton which ischaracterized by simplicity and efl'iciency of manufacture at minimalexpense so that quality production can be achieved without sacrifice ofquantity.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent upon reference to the following description and theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the carton having the closure memberof this invention showing the closure member in the initial attachedposition;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the open position of theclosure member;

FIGURE 3 is atop view of the carton of FIGURE 1 with the closure memberindicated in full lines in the closed position and indicated in brokenlines in the open position;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional viewtaken along the line 4--4 of FIGURE 3; 1

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 showing the closed position ofthe closure member with only three packs in the carton; and

FIGURE 6 is a layout blank of the carton of FIG- URE 1.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in FIGURES 1 to 5 a carton of aparallelepiped shape, indicated generally at 10, positioned about anumber of individual merchandising packages 11. The container 10 is anenclosed box illustrated as a cigarette carton holding individualcigarette packs in two superposed rows of five each. The dimensions ofthe container 10 conform to the size of the packages 11 permitting thepackages to be readily slidable relative to each other as soon as asingle package has been removed from the carton. The dimensions of thecontainer 10 are not limited to the particular size and shapeillustrated in the drawing and vary with the size and the shape of thepackages defined in the container.

The carton 10 is formed from semi-rigid material, such as paper, plasticor the like, and is constructed from an integral piece of sheet materialblank 12 cut to the shape shown in FIGURE 6. The blank 12 is folded overalong horizontal fold lines 13 and vertical fold lines 14 into aparallelepiped shape shown in FIGURE 1. In this shape the container 10has a rectangular shaped top wall 16 separated from a similarly shapedbottom wall 17 by upright 3,286,830 Patented Nov. 22, 1966 side walls 18and opposite end walls 19 and 21. As shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, end walls19 and 21 formed from flanges integral with the opposite ends of the topwall 16 and bottom wall 17 are positioned in overlapped relation andsecured together with an adhesive or the like. The walls 16, 17, 18, 19and 21 form a box-like chamber accommodating the packages 11.

To provide access into the chamber and remove the packages therefrom thetop Wall 16 is formed with a closure member indicated generally at 22.The bottom wall 17 may be formed with a similar closure member. Theclosure member 22 is part of the top wall 16 and normally projectstoward the end wall 21 closing an opening in the top Wall. As shown inFIGURE 6, the closure member 22 is an elongated flap or door having arectangular portion 23 and a semi-circular end portion 24 de fined by aseries of cuts or perforations 26. The rectangular portion 23 has-awidth which is slightly wider than the width of one of the packs 11.

To provide for easy opening of the closure member 22 as well aseliminating tearing of the semi-circular portion 24 and the rectangularportion 23 the perforations 26 around the semi-circular portion 24 andthe rectangular portion 23 are relatively large so that closure mem ber22 is readily separable from the top wall 16. The shape of thesemi-circular portion 24 can vary and may be rectangular, triangular,trapezoidal and the like. A string-pull may be used in lieu of theperforations 26. The shape of the tab 27 and its location on the closuremember 22 can vary as required. Tab 27 may be eliminated to provide ahole for a finger so that closure member 22 can be pulled in an upwarddirection.

As shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, one side of the closur member 22 isintegral with the top wall 16 and flexes and bends in the area oftransverse fold line 28.' The fold or hinge line 28 of the closuremember 22 hasno crimp or perforation and is in substantial verticalalignment with the inside plane of the second tier of packs 11 from theend 21. This places the first tier of packages 11a under portion 29 ofthe top wall 16'projected' from the end wall 21. The packages 11a aremaintained in this position by theclosure member 22 which is bentdownwardly or tucked in against the inside surfaces of the packages 11aas shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. This is the closed position of theclosuremember 22. In this position the forward end of the semi:circular-portion24 is spaced slightly above the bottom wall 17 The rectangular portion23 is flexed into an arcuate shape so as to bias the packages 11aagainst the inside of the end wall 21. This biasing force holds theclosure member 22 in the closed position.

In use, to open the carton 10 the customer lifts the small tab 27,inserts the finger in the hole left by the tab and pulls the tab in anupward direction of arrow 31 as shown in FIGURE 2 until thesemi-circular member portion 24 and sides of the rectangular portion 23of the closure member 22 are separated from the top wall 16. Thisexposes the pack 11 immediately under the closure member 22. This packcan be removed from the carton by gripping the pack and lifting the packfrom the carton. Additional packs may be removed from the carton in thesame manner.

To close the carton 10 the closure member 22 is flexed and bent in adownward direction about hinge line 28. The semi-circular portion 24 isinserted into the carton against the first tier of packs 11a between thefirst and second tier of packs. This places the entire closure member 22within the carton where it is protected from accidental movement. Thesemi-circular portion 24 rests against the exposed sides of the packs11a positioned directly beneath the top wall portion 29.

To reopen the carton the consumer simply'lifts the Y of one of thepacks.

opening may be again closed by. reinserting the semi-circular portioninto the carton. As shown in FIGURE 5,

the closure member 22 functions to confine all the packages 11 withinthe carton until all but one pack has been extracted therefrom;

A retail clerk stocking store shelves with the contents or packagesenclosed in the container commencesin the same procedure as theconsumer. The clerk merely continues to pull on the closure memberremoving the entire top wall 16 except the wall portion 29. The packsare thus exposed for movement to the display shelves.

Although this invention has been described in conjunction with acigarette carton, such description is intended "as being illustrativerather than limiting, since the invention is intended to encompasscontainers used to store packaged articles. The invention is to belimited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

Iclaim: 1. A pack dispensing carton comprising an elongatedparallelepiped container in combination with a plurality of packspackaged in said container, said container including a top wall and anend wall attached to the top wall, said top wall having a flexibleclosure member projected toward said end wall and a series ofperforations defining the sides and one end-of the closure member,

said one end of the closure member being spaced from the end wall, theopposite end of the closure member joined with the top wall andprojected transversely thereto in a transverse plane longitudinallyspaced from the end wall a distance of about twice the width ofa pack,said closure member selectively bendable to an open position outwardlyfrom the carton and to a closed protected position inside the carton inengagement with at least one pack, said closure member biasing said atleast one pack toward said end wall.

2. The carton structure defined in claim 1 further characterized by atab member secured to the closure member.

3. The carton structure defined in claim 1 where said closure member hasa rectangular portion and a semicircular portion, said rectangularportion having a width and length substantially the same asthe width andlength 4. A pack dispensing carton comprising an elongatedparallelepiped carton in combination witha plurality of packs, saidcarton including a top wall and opposite end walls attached to the topwall, said top wall having a flexible closure-member projected towardone end wall and selectively bendable in a transverse. hinge areaconnecting the closure member with the top wall, said hinge area beinglongitudinally spaced from said one end wall at least twice the width ofone pack, said closure member movable to an open position outwardly fromthe carton and to a closed position into the carton in engagement withat least one pack in the carton.

5. The carton structure defined in claim 4 further characterized by atab member secured to the closure member.

6. The carton structure defined in claim 4 wherein said closure memberhas a rectangular portion and a semicircular portion, said rectangularportion having a width substantially the same as the width of one' ofthe packs and a length generally equal to the width of the carton.

7. A pack storing container in combination with a plurality of packsstored transversely in the container comprising a rectangular shaped boxincluding a flexible top wall joined to opposite end walls, said topwall having a series of perforations in a generally U-shaped outlineprojected toward one end wall, a closure member defined by said U-shapedseries of perforations, said closure :tended along the sides of the topwall.

9. The container defined in claim 7 further characterized by a tabmember secured to the curved end of the closure member..

References Cited by the'Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,542 4/1935Horrell et al 206-4531 FOREIGN PATENTS 221,883 9/1924 Great Britain.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

W. T. DIXSON, IR., Assistant Examiner.

1. A PACK DISPENSING CARTON COMPRISING AN ELONGATED PARALLELEPIPEDCONTAINER IN COMBINATION WITH A PLURALITY OF PACKS PACKAGED IN SAIDCONTAINER, SAID CONTAINER INCLUDING A TOP WALL AND AN END WALL ATTACHEDTO THE TOP WALL, SAID TOP WALL HAVING A FLEXIBLE CLOSURE MEMBERPROJECTED TOWARD SAID END WALL AND A SERIES OF PERFORATIONS DEFINING THESIDES AND ONE END OF THE CLOSURE MEMBER, SAID ONE END OF THE CLOSUREMEMBER BEING SPACED FROM THE END WALL, THE OPPOSITE END OF THE CLOSUREMEMBER